Blondies

Pumpkin Cheesecake Blondies

Autumn is one of those times of the year which seems very short compared to spring and summer, that’s why you have to get all the autumn flavours you can while baking. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of pumpkin cheesecake blondies.

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t planned on making these blondies – they kind of just happened on the day. I didn’t have enough soft cheese for a cheesecake and wasn’t going back out just for that, especially seeing as the UK was coming to the end of the first lockdown.

These are the perfect treat to make on a day when the weather is dark and miserable or while doing a spot of weekend baking. If you give these a go, don’t forget that this is like 2 desserts in 1… Who doesn’t like more dessert?

You have the classic white chocolate blondie, which is good on its own but when you add in a pumpkin cheesecake swirl, it elevates it to another level, seriously. You don’t have to believe me but I will tell you, it adds a different flavour and texture to the end baked good – plus it’s perfectly seasonal.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Blondies:

200g White chocolate.

150g Butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract

190g Plain flour.

1/4 tsp Salt.

100g White chocolate chips.

Cheesecake swirl:

100g Soft cheese.

80g Pumpkin puree.

1 Egg yolk.

20g Granulated sugar.

20g Plain flour.

1/4 tsp Ground mixed spice.

1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon.

Dash of ground cloves and all spice.

Method:

Before you get started on any part of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, line your 8 inch square baking tin with some parchment paper and grab any equipment you may need such as heat proof mixing bowl and whisk.

To start on the recipe, I recommend you make the cheesecake swirl.

Place all of the cheesecake swirl ingredients into a medium sized bowl and whisk together until the mixture is smooth and everything has been combined. If the mixture isn’t a very bright orange, feel free to add a little orange food colouring gel/paste (avoid the liquid variation, it will only ruin the mixture), whisk that in until its fully combined, then set that in the fridge while you make the blondie.

For the blondie, place a small/medium saucepan filled with a small amount water over a low heat, reaching a simmer.

Into a heatproof bowl, place the butter and white chocolate and place over the saucepan of simmering water. Ensure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water, otherwise it may ruin the butter and chocolate mixture. Allow the two to melt a little then stir until smooth and combined.

Remove the chocolate mixture from the saucepan and place onto your work surface and add in all of the granulated sugar and whisk together until fully combined. The mixture may look a little more granular, this is normal and will smooth out later in the recipe.

You can now add in the eggs, one at time whisking well in-between each addition. Once all of the eggs have been added , you should notice the mixture is much smoother and glossier – this is what you’re looking for.

You can then go ahead and add in the vanilla extract, just whisk until it has been fully incorporated.

Next add in the flour, salt and white chocolate chips. Fold everything in until the flour and salt have been fully incorporated and the chocolate chips have been equally distributed throughout the blondie batter.

Pour the batter into your lined baking tin and level off if it’s uneven. Now you will need the cheesecake mixture you made earlier, so grab it from the fridge.

Take dollops of the cheesecake mixture and place on top of the blondie batter and take a butterknife to swirl the cheesecake through the blondies. Once you’re happy with the swirls, place into your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (or until the blondies have gone golden brown around the edges and the cheesecake doesn’t jiggle excessively anymore). Allow to cool down fully.

For the best and easiest results, I like to place the blondies I the fridge to chill for as long as possible. This helps in more than one way, it makes the blondies more fudgy and the cheesecake smoother and it make them easier to slice up. You can work with them right away, if that’s all the time you have.

When it come to cutting these up, however many slices you need or want is up to you. I like to work with 8 bigger portions of 16 more bet size portions – whichever suits you best!

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you like brownies but are looking for something a little different, these Reese’s peanut butter blondies may be for you!

A blondie is basically a blonde or golden version of a brownie. It’s made with white chocolate over milk/dark chocolate and it still has the dense and gooey consistency of a good brownie – what’s not to like about that?

I wasn’t sure about the combination of the of the white chocolate blondie and peanut butter and after trialling the recipe a handful of times, I found the combination worked really well. If you have ever tried peanut butter and jam, it’s that sort of combination. It works because the white chocolate is sweet and peanut butter is salty, the balance sweet and salty somehow just work so well.

If you haven’t tried the sweet and salt combination, give it a go with a PB&J sandwich – you won’t regret it,

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g White chocolate.

130g Butter.

50g Peanut butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

190g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Salt.

3 Eggs.

80g Peanut butter (for the swirl).

Reese’s peanut butter cups, halved.

Method:

Before you get into making the blondies, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, line your 8 inch square tin and preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you intend on using.

Into a bowl, place your butter, white chocolate and peanut butter and melt them over a bain-marie, keep the heat at a medium and no higher (you can also use a microwave on 15 second burst, this isn’t the best method as it can get the chocolate too hot, which isn’t ideal), take extra effort not to get the mixture too hot.

Once the butter and chocolate are melted, add in your sugar straight away and whisk it in until fully incorporated.

Then you can go ahead and add in all of your eggs, whisking them in until they are fully worked in.

Next you can add in the plain flour and salt, you’re best to incorporate them using a silicon spatula, this is what I find the best to work with. Once you can’t see a trace of the dry mix, stop mixing, you don’t want to over-mix the batter.

Pour the blondie batter into your lined 8 inch square cake tin and level it out using your spatula or a small cranked/offset palette knife.

Take the 80g of peanut butter and warm it slightly, just to make it more spreadable. Take teaspoons of the peanut butter and place on top of the blonde batter, then take a butter knife and swirl the mixture around.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and place on the Reese’s peanut butter cups however you like. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges.

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before you continue. For a fudgier end result, I recommend placing the cooled down blondies into the fridge overnight.

Now its time to cut the blondies up. You can either cut them into 8 rectangular slices or 16 smaller slices. It really depends on how many portions you’d like to yield.

Creme Egg Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I’m glad I can finally share these Cadbury creme egg blondies with you today!

I made these a short while back and ever since, I’ve been wanting them again. They are sweet, chocolatey and perfectly dense and gooey – what more could you possibly want from a blondie?

I’ve taken my easy blondie recipe and amended it to suit the Easter theme a little better. I simply take some white chocolate spread and colour it with some orange paste to represent the ‘egg yolk’ in the creme egg and have some kept white to swirl throughout the blondies and make sure you cut up your creme eggs, I like to quarter mine but you can make them bigger (using halves for example).

These blondies are ideal to make if you’re stuck in quarantine and well worth the time you will be investing… Who doesn’t want this sweet confection? Might as well leave this isolation with a cavity or two.

I feel that I have to let you know that this recipe was made before the panic buying phenomenon happened in the UK, so I was able to get ingredients pretty freely. I understand that because of the current situation, you may not be able to find all the ingredients you need and I understand that.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g White chocolate.

130g Butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

190g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Salt.

3 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

80g White chocolate spread.

80g White chocolate spread (coloured orange).

Creme eggs (as many as you need, either halved or quartered).

Method:

Into a heatproof bowl, place your butter and white chocolate and melt them over a bain-marie (which is over a medium heat), try your best not to get the mixture too hot. If this happens, the mixture may split.Once the butter and chocolate are melted, add in your sugar and straight away whisk it in, until it has been fully incorporated.

Next you can add in the plain flour and salt, passing them through a sieve first, just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry mix. Mix on a low-medium speed until the dry ingredients have been fully incorporated, try your best not to over mix.

Now you can add in all of your eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until everything is smooth and the consistency has become looser in consistency.

Take your lined cake tin and pour your blondie batter into the tin and level it out as best you can.

Grab your both of your white chocolate spreads and warm them in the microwave to make them a little more fluid. Then take dollops and place on top of the blondie batter and just swirl it around until you have a marble effect.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 20 minutes and then remove from the oven and place on the creme eggs. You can then go ahead and place them back in the oven to bake for a further 10-15 minutes.

Once they are fully baked, allow them to cool down fully before you try and remove them from the tin. Once completely cooled down, place the tin into the fridge (this is to help them be as dense and fudgy as possible) overnight or until the following day.

Then you can cut them up into slices, I went with 8 generous slices but you could also make them into 16 smaller squares. However you choose to cut them up, they’ll still taste the same!

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Mini Egg No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Easter is just a few weeks away and considering that you may have family and/or friends around you and don’t have time to be slaving away in the kitchen, today I’m going to be sharing my recipe for a super easy and colourful no-bake cheesecake.

Don’t get me wrong, I love baking but sometimes you don’t want to be in the kitchen for hours on end making something. That’s why I’m sharing my recipe for this Easter edition of a no-bake cheesecake – it includes 3 colourful layers of vanilla cheesecake, with freshly whipped cream and Cadbury mini eggs.

There is another reason this cheesecake may be ideal, it uses no electrical equipment. Meaning no matter what you have, you should be able to make this. All you need, at the very least is a 6 inch cake tin, whisk and a large mixing bowl.

If you have a stand or hand mixer, feel free to use it for convenience. I also recommend using a small cranked palette knife, to help spread and level the mixture out once its in the tin.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Base:

125g Digestive biscuits.

50g Butter, melted.

Cheesecake:

300g Soft cheese.

75g Icing sugar.

1/2-1 tsp Vanilla extract.

200ml Double cream.

Topping:

200ml Double cream.

1tsp Vanilla extract.

25g Icing sugar.

Methods:

Before you get into any element of the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of the ingredients, preparing your cake tin with a circle of parchment paper (this is optional) and get any equipment you may use ready.

Base:

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to work on the base first.

Take your digestive biscuits and place them into a food safe bag, then take a rolling pin and gently press it into the biscuits until they break down into a crumb or sandy looking consistency. Make sure that the mixture is completely in crumb form, otherwise when the butter is added, it won’t be distributed fairly.

Transfer the biscuits crumbs into a small/medium bowl and then go ahead and melt the butter, either in a saucepan on the hob or in the microwavable safe bowl. Add the butter directly into the biscuit crumbs and mix the two together until fully combined – it will resemble wet sand.

Take your 6 inch cake tin and pour the mixture straight into it, then compress it down using something like a clean and empty jar or similar until its compressed and level, then place into the fridge to chill while you make the cheesecake filling.

Filling:

Start by taking a large mixing bowl and placing the soft cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisking them all together until they are fully combined. You may notice that the mixture has a loose consistency at this point but don’t worry, this will change as we work through the recipe.

Go ahead and add in all of the double cream and give it a very good whisk until the cream has been fully worked in and the mixture has reached a stiff peak consistency. This may take a bit longer if you’re doing it by hand, a hand or stand mixer is ideal for this stage but not essential.

Split the cheesecake filling between 3 separate bowls and add your colourings, I went with purple, blue and pink but feel free to change the colours to suit you.

Whisk the colourings into the cheesecake filling, ensuring they are a solid colour, with no marbling. I recommend using colouring pastes, as they work best and won’t alter the consistency of the filling.

Remove the cake tin from the fridge and place your first layer of cheesecake filling into and level it off as best you can using a cranked palette knife or the back of a spoon may also work well. Repeat with the remaining layers, I started with the purple, followed by the blue and finished with the pink.

Place the cheesecake into the fridge and allow to chill for 6-8 hours or overnight, whichever you can do. The longer it can chill, the better end result.

Topping:

Take the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract and place them into a large mixing bowl and whisk them all together until the cream is at stiff peaks and holds its shape. Try your best not to over whisk the cream, otherwise it will be granular and unpleasant to taste.

Place the cream into a piping bag fitted with your piping nozzle of choice, I went with a open star nozzle.

Assembly:

Once the cheesecake has had its time in the fridge, feel free to take your plate or cake stand of choice and place the cheesecake onto it.

Take the whipped cream an start to pip rosettes onto the top edge of the cheesecake, how close you pipe them together is completely up to you, I piped mine right next to one another.

To finish place a mini egg on each rosette, I followed a colour pattern but feel free to make it however you want to, it’s really easy for you to personalise.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Mince Pie Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially the start of Bakemas 2019! 🎉

If it’s your first bakemas here, welcome. It is my annual mini-series in which I show you how to make a various Christmas themed baked goods – perfect if you want to impress your family and friends or if you’re hosting a Christmas party!

To start the festive period off, I thought I’d show you something simple yet impressive and its the perfect alternative to a chocolate brownie, it’s my take on a mince pie blondies.

These blondies are the perfect traybake to make as they can be cut into generous rectangles or bitesize portions – perfect for this time of year (especially as mince pies are everywhere and can be bought pretty easily or you could make your own from scratch for a authentic treat).

They are the perfect balance between dense and cakey, which is perfect this recipe. As with all blondies, the edge will be more baked and cakey compared to the centre which will be slightly more dense.

These are different to my usual recipe for blondies as I wanted them to fit the festive themed more. Starting with the addition of light brown sugar for half of the granulated sugar, for a more caramel flavour and adding some ground mixed spice into the dry ingredients for a slightly spiced flavour.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Blondies:

200g White chocolate.

150g butter.

80g granulated sugar.

80g light brown sugar.

190g plain flour.

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice.

1/2 tsp salt.

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract.

Topping:

100g mincemeat (the sweet variation, not savoury).

4/5 mince pies (quartered, halved or whole. Which ever you prefer, I went with quarters).

Method:

Start by doing some prep work, to save you faffing around later on. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F, line your 8 inch square cake tin with some greaseproof/parchment paper, weigh up the ingredients and place a small saucepan filled with some water on the hob over a medium heat.

In a medium heat proof bowl, you’ll want to place the butter and white chocolate. Place the bowl on top of the small saucepan of simmering water and allow the butter and white chocolate to melt, stirring once it starts to melt. *make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl*.

Once the butter and white chocolate have melted and are fully combined, you can take it off the heat and add in the granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Make sure you give it all a good mix, so everything is incorporated.

Now it’s the time to add in the plain flour, ground mixed spice and salt. Passing them through a sieve to remove any lumps that may be in the dry ingredients. Fold it into the white chocolate mixture, as the dry ingredients are incorporate, it will become more of a dough. This is completely normal and the consistency changes later in the recipe.

Next, add in the eggs, either one at a time and beating well in-between each addition or all at once and giving it all a good mix to ensure the eggs are fully incorporated. *this alters the consistency to become looser, which is ideal for pouring, spreading and swirling fillings through*.

Pour the batter into your lined 8 inch square cake tin, levelling off with your silicon spatula or a small cranked palette knife.

At this time you can add blobs of the mincemeat all over the top of the blondie batter, I added it roughly to the centre of each slice but you could add smaller blobs all over, whichever you like really, it’s 100% up to you! *the mincemeat may sink a little as it bakes and this is perfect for when you bite into it and get a bite of mincemeat*.

Place the cake tin into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes before removing them from the oven to add the mince pies on top, then you can place back in the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until a tester comes out almost clean (with only a few crumbs on at best).

Once they are fully naked, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully in the tin. If you don’t intend on cutting them that day, you can place them in the fridge for up-to 2 days. This helps to make them more dense, which is the best way to enjoy these, for me personally.

How you cut them up is up to you, but I went with generously sized rectangles, meaning I get 8 portions but if you cut them in half again and get squares, you’ll get 16 bitesize portions.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Blondies

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